Captain Ronaldo looked to have put Portugal ahead with a superb effort in the first half, the £80million man cleverly turning inside Gerard Pique before scooping his shot over Madrid club-mate Iker Casillas.

The effort was dropping into the net but Nani raced in from an offside position to head the ball in from point-blank range, leading to the goal being disallowed.

Manchester United man Nani said after the game: “I touched the ball because I thought I wasn't offside. Everything happened so quickly.

“After having time to think about it I apologised to Ronaldo. It was a great piece of play and I shouldn't have ruined it.”

Ronaldo, who threw his captain's armband onto the pitch in anger after the goal was disallowed, felt the ball had already crossed the line before Nani got to it.

“I don't understand, even a blind man could see it was a goal, the ball was half a metre into the net,” he said in Marca.

“I don't know if it's a coincidence or not but my best goals with the national team are being disallowed. I remember an overhead kick in the Bessa stadium which wasn't given.”

That incident did not end up costing Portugal dear as they would go on to record an emphatic victory over their Iberian neighbours, gaining some measure of revenge for their World Cup exit in the process.

Spain beat Portugal in the last-16 in South Africa before going on to be crowned world champions for the first time.

Nani, speaking to RTP, said of his side's victory in Lisbon: “The squad have been fantastic. It's an excellent group and we are united in trying to defend well and score goals.

“With the players that we have and when we are playing well, we are going to be capable of scoring a lot of goals to win matches.”

Spain meanwhile are still reeling from their worst defeat for 47 years.

Carlos Martins put the hosts ahead on the stroke of half-time, before second-half goals from Hélder Postiga, Sergio Ramos, the Spain defender who put through his own net, and substitute Hugo Almeida sealed an impressive victory for Paulo Bento’s side.

The last time Spain had lost by such an embarrassing margin was a 6-2 defeat by Scotland in Madrid in 1963.

Your Comments

COMMENT RULES: Comments that are judged to be defamatory, abusive or in bad taste are not acceptable and contributors who consistently fall below certain criteria will be permanently blacklisted. The moderator will not enter into debate with individual contributors and the moderator’s decision is final. It is Belfast Telegraph policy to close comments on court cases, tribunals and active legal investigations. We may also close comments on articles which are being targeted for abuse. Problems with commenting? customercare@belfasttelegraph.co.uk